Shortwave radio still packs an audible thrill

reuters ^ | 1/14/09 | Robert MacMillan

[mylife]

So why bother with shortwave?

It's easy and cheap -- and fun. You can hear and learn things that you would never find even if you work your search engine like a mule. From Swaziland to Paris to Havana, shortwave broadcasters can surprise an adventurous listener more than any MP3 playlist.

"You tune carefully, twist the radio from side to side, and there's still a bit of a 'Hey, I made this happen!' sort of thing," said Harold Cones, retired chairman of the biology and chemistry department at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Virginia.

It's also magic. Shortwave radio enthusiasts acknowledge the thrill -- the romance, in a way -- of going out at night and snaring news, music, odd bleeps, religious zealots and other broadcasts from the wild sea of frequencies in the sky.

[mylife]

BTW

It was cool to listen to Hams on Galveston during the last hurricane.

What drama.

[mylife]

Bookmarked.

I have a small active loop antenna, but I dont find it real useful for Dxing. It is however excellent at tuning out axial noise

I can solder in my sleep and that kit looks like fun

[mylife]

I recently tinkered with the antenna and possibly shorted out a component,

About 3 weeks ago, I left the window open and it rained like hell.

My ten tec receiver was powered up and literally full of water! ARGHH!!! I powered it down and drained it out and let it dry.

Damn thing still works like a champ

[Political Junkie Too]

I also have the Terk Advantage loop antenna for my AM radio. It works great.

You also might like this other kit from Ramsey, the SM100 - Signal Magnet Noise Reduction Kit.

I never bought this one, but you can read the manual here.

Also, here's the manual for the AA7C.

-PJ

[airdalechief]

If they are new and never been used the KWM-2 and power supply will fetch an outstanding price. I would list it on eHam (you can google eHam) and list it for $1500.00.

I wouldn't have anyone checking it out as not to disturb anything.

Rigs here are a Icom Pro III and a Yaesu MK V Field. I have a small Kenwood TS 480 by the bed and have a few shortwave frequencies programmed in.

73’s dit...dit...dit

[aMorePerfectUnion]

mylife,
I just bought the Par end fedz antenna, thanks to your
heads up. I’m thinking of putting it up in the attic.

Thanks for the recommend!

ampu

[Clinging Bitterly]

I agree. The sold prices on KWM-2s are right up there - I don’t see any recent sold prices on a good/used one for less than a grand, and the documents & packaging you have add to it’s value, even though it’s not exactly “brand new”.

As for having it checked out, I meant only if you personally plan to use the rig. I don’t think a serious collector would want or expect you to do that.

[mylife]

I think you will enjoy it.

It performs very well and is very simple to install

[engrpat]

It is the size of a small radio, Lifelong World Band Radio. I am sure it is very inexpensive but it sure worked well. While on the ship I listened to English broadcast from Germany and the several stations from England were also a hoot. I was surprised to learn of radio that I never knew existed, small operations I am sure, many with political agendas.

[mylife]

The political stuff is very interesting to me.

Have you noticed how entrenched the global warming stuff is on international radio?

[mylife]

Go get a kaito 1103.

You will be happy you did

[mylife]

You like the TERK? is that AM active loop?

I need to send a decent AM loop antenna to my brother

[Clinging Bitterly]

Ha. It sure kept me busy when I was a kid (though I did manage to find my share of trouble in spite of that).

This thread gave me the bug and I spent way too much time looking up old stuff. The old Hallicrafters receiver I had it turns out was NOT the S-38D, but rather a 5R10A (AM only). There is one on Ebay right now that looks nice & is about an hour away from going cheap. I am so tempted.

[mylife]

I hope you like it. It’s American made and really brings in the SW and FM.

I am thinking of buying another just to use as a portable

Really simple and really effective. The binocular balun seems to work very well

[mylife]

Here ya go...http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/3632

You will love it

[mylife]

Do it! L0l

SW will always be around.
So long as there is RF phenomena to exploit SW will never die

[Political Junkie Too]

I take that back. The Terk AM Advantage is a passive loop. However, it does have a plug to attach to a receiver. I either use it passively with my portable AM radio, or plug it into my receiver to pick up AM stations on that radio.

I do like it for several reasons:

• It's fairly small, and sits on my night-table in front of my Grundig S350. The open design of the loop lets me reach through it to get to the controls on the radio, unlike other passive loops like the Select-A-tenna.
• I live in a valley where radio reception is very poor. It definitely pulls in the weaker stations. I can get Sacramento and Fresno with it.
• Sometimes, I'll position it at a 90 degree angle, and use it to block nearby interference instead of amplifying the frequency I want.
• They do say that the attenna will work better with poor radios than with good radios. For instance, the Grundig S350 has a very large AM antenna already in it, so the Terk doesn't help it as much as with the Yacht Boy, which has a smaller ferrite antenna in it.

That said, people say the Select-A-Tenna is a better passive loop. Or, for the BEST AM antenna, people say the CC Crane Twin-Coil antenna is great. All three (Terk, Select-a-tenna, and twin-coil) can be found at the C Crane website.

-PJ

[engrpat]

Thanks, I will check it out.

[mylife]

Its the best portable on the market IMHO.

80 bucks. The audio is superb with a line out to external speakers. The FM aural separation is outstanding.

Add an external antenna(it comes with one but I like the Par antenna) and this thing rocks.

It has SSB and it has rechargeable battery’s that you charge in the radio.

Comes with earbuds, power supply and a carry pouch.

I cant say enough about this little radio

[mylife]

300? on a geek thread?